Gear-changing mechanism.



No. 630,5!2. Patented Aug. 8, I899. A. MEYEBS.

GEAR CHANGING MECHANISM.

(Application filed May 15, 1899.)

Fig. 5.

Fig iP Y W X X mun l I M W K W A B S 0 %w/'M%7 g7 WITNESSES: INVENTOR.

UNITED STATES:-

PATENT OFFICE.

ANDREW MEYERS, OF SPOKANE, WASHINGTON, ASSIGNOR TOJVALKER L. BEAN, OF SAME PLACE.

GEAR-CHANGING MECHANISM.

enumerate aimin part of Letters Patent No. 630,512, dated August 8, 1899-.

Application filed May 15, 1899. Serial No. 716,955. (No model.)

To alt whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, ANDREW MEYERS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Spokane, in the county of Spokane and State of Washington, have invented a new and useful Gear- Changing Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in gear-changing mechanism in which pulleys or wheels operate upon a shaft, which shaft is furnished with movable tumblers which are forced into recesses provided in said wheels from the center of the shaft by means of a slidable bar; and the objects of my improvement are to provide a mechanism which will set in motion said shaft at difierent rates of speed or stop its motion altogether at pleasure Without stopping the motion of the loose wheels thereon and to accomplish the transmission of power through such shaft with the least possible loss by friction-that is to say, with no loss except that incident to all transmissions through belts, gears,or other devices. I attain these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in

which- 7 Figure 1 is a horizontal section of the device as adapted to spur-gears, the communicating gear-wheels and power-shaft being shown solid. Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section of my machine, said section being taken through the line C D in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a sectional view of one of the movable tumblers in the same position as the same is shown at L in Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 is a detached view of one of said tumblers as the same appears in Fig. 2.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

The main feature of my invention, generally stated, consistsin gear-changing mechanism wherein are combined with an axially and radially perforated shaft a loose wheel and movable tumbler or pin for connecting and disconnecting the loose wheel and shaft of a slidable cam-bar for positively projecting and withdrawing the movable pin or tumbler.

A secondary feature of the invention consists in the combination, with the axially and radially perforated shaft and loose wheel, of

' by the keys K K.

a slidable bar having a cam track or slot and a straddle-tumbler or pin positively advanced and retracted by the said slidable bar to connect and disconnect the shaft and wheel.

There are other minor features of invention, all 'as will hereinafter more fully appear.

I will now proceed to describe my invention more fully, so that others skilled in the art to which it appertains may apply the same. In Fig. 1, S represents a power-shaft, to which are secured three gear-wheels W X Y These wheels engage the corresponding loose gear-wheels W X Y on the secondary shaft S, the smallest of said loose gear-wheels W engaging the largest gear-wheel W on the power-shaft, and vice versa, as shown. The secondary shaft S is partly cut out in the middle, as shown in Fig. 2, for the insertion therein of the slidable bar B, which slidable bar passes throughout that portion of the secondary shaft carrying the.

loose'gear-wheel, as shown. The said slidable bar B is prov'idedwith a slot A, which is straight and parallel with its sides throughout nearly all'of its length, but about the tinued straight direction, as shown, thus producing whatmay be termed a sliding cam or cam-bar. At points opposite the center of each of said loose gear-wheels the said secondary shaft is pierced with holes larger than the thickness of the said slidable bar, into which holes are introduced the movable tumblers L. These movable tumblers are forkshaped at one end, so as to straddle the said slidable bar, and in the legs of said fork on each tumbler, at about the middle theref, they are provided with the cross-pins P, which pins rest in the slot of the slidable bar, as shown. Owing to this construction of the tumbler or pin and its connection with the sliding cam or cam-bar B the tumbleror pin is notonly positively projected to connect the shaft and wheel, but is also positively ,withdrawn to disconnect the shaft and wheel.

and withdrawn from the recesses in the loose gear-wheels next described. The angle of beveling should be very slight. Fifteen degrees has been ascertained in practice to be sufficient. The middle of the inner bearingsurface of each of said loose gear-wheels is reamed out for a portion of the inner eircu 1nference, leaving the recess R in a portion of each of such inner bearing-surfaces. At the outer end 0 of said slidable bar will be placed a means for moving said slidable bar in and out, as occasion may demand, for which no claim will be made and for which any suit able device may be employed, the object being merely to enable the operator of the machine to move said slidable bar in and out while the same is either in motion'or in a state of rest. It is obvious that the device adapted for this purpose can be extended indefinitely in any direction, so as to enable the operator to move said slidable bar in and out from a distance.

The operation of the machine is as follows: The gear-wheels IV, X, and Y being keyed to the power-shaft S, when said shaft is set in motion the said gear-wheels of course revolve. These wheels in turn set up a corresponding motion in the loose gear-wheels V X Y, causing the same to revolve and in the position shown in Fig. 1 also causing the secondary shaft S to revolve, for the reason that the position of the slidable bar is such that the pin P in the middle tumbler L is in the bend of said slot, and therefore the tumbler L has been thrust out into the recess in the inner surface of said loose wheel X, and said recess only extending around a portion of the said inner bearing-surface engages the solid part thereof and causes the shaft carrying said tumbler to revolve. This middle gearing is the one represented in Fig. 2, and, as shown, the speed of the revolution of X and X is the same, for they each have the same diameter. If it is desired to change the speed of the secondary shaft S, the following is the manner in which it is accomplished: Suppose first that it is desired to increase the speed of the secondary shaft S. The slidable bar B is drawn out until the pin P of said tumbler by motion of said slot reaches the straight part thereof, during which operation the tumbler is withdrawn from the recess in the inner bearing-surface of the gear-wheel X,rele'asing the same. This causes the shaft to cease revolving, provided the slidable bar be left in that position; but continuing to move the slidable bar out the pin in the tumbler of the smaller wheel \V is caused by the motion of said slidable bar and slot to engage in the deflected portion of said slot, moving the said tumbler into the correspond ing recess of the wheel W, and thereby starting the secondary shaft in revolution at a swifter speed by reason of the different relative diameters of the wheels IV and \V as compared with the diameters of the wheels X X. Suppose next that it is desired from the original position to decrease the speed of the secondary shaft S. The slidable bar is pushed in instead of being drawn out until the pin of the tumbler of the loose gear-wheel Y is pushed outward by the deflected portion of the slot of the slidable bar, at which time, as before, the tumbler is thrust into the recess of the gear-wheel Y, causing the shaft to revolve at a rate as fixed by the comparative diameters of the loose gear-wheel Y and the gear-wheel Y. It will be noticed that in each of these operations when the deflected portion of the' slot comes just midway between the pins of the different tumblers the gear-wheels all become idle and the shaft ceases to revolve. The device therefore enables the operator to change from high speed to low speed or to stop his machine altogether, as desired, without stopping the power-shaft.

In the drawings there are shown three sets of gear-wheels; but itis obviousthat the same arrangement may be employed for an indefinite number upon the same principle or upon only one where it is simply desired to change from motion to a state of rest, and vice versa.

As before mentioned,the arrangement illustrated by the drawings is for convenience adapted to spur-gear. It is obvious that the same device may be equally well employed in connection with pulleys and belts or any other substitute therefor. The device might also be introduced in the power-shaft instead of the secondary shaft, although in practice it is believed that its most convenient application will be in most cases in connection with the secondary shaft.

No shaft-bearings or journals are shown, it being deemed unnecessary, as those persons who wish to employ the device can arrange parts to suit the requirements of any particular occasion.

It is known to the inventor that other devices have been employed for changing the speed of gearing; but it is believed by the inventor that the device here shown accomplishes all of the purposes desired in the most satisfactory and efficient manner possible and with the least possible loss of powerin transmission; and the peculiar advantage of this device consists in enabling the operator to so change speed while the machinery is in motion.

That I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a gear-changing mechanism, the combination with an axially and radially perforated shaft, a loose wheel, and a movable tumbler or pin for connecting the loose wheel to the shaft, of a slidable cam-bar for positively advancing and withdrawing the movable tumbler or pin; substantiallyas and for the purposes specified.

2. In a gear-chan gin g mechanism, the combination with an axially and radially perforated shaft and a loose wheel, of a slidable bar having a cam-slot, and a tumbler or pin having means to engage the cam-slot of the slidable bar, whereby the tumbler or pin maybe perforation of the shaft and provided with a 10 cam-slot which actuates the forked tumbler, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

ANDREW MEYERS.

Witnesses:

HENRY M. HoYT, WALKER L. BEAN. 

